Aug 17, 2014

Sex in the city

I would like to make a contribution to our understanding of a political phenomenon: single women voting for Obama.

The following three paragraphs summarize the data on single women voting. To these paragraphs we need to add that single women voted 67% for Obama in 2012.

The unmarried women of the 2012 make up almost 40% of the African American population, nearly 30% of the Latino population, and about a third of all young voters, or 32.7%, according to the research released on Thursday. They are divorced, separated, widowed, or have never married.

"They had an enormous influence on Tuesday's election," Gardner said.

Single women have traditionally been Democratic voters, largely for economic reasons. They tend to have less money than married women – because they don't have a husband's earnings to fall back on. They also tend to be less educated.

I would like to add to the understanding of this single women voter phenomenon by repeating a popular male adage: ‘when men get married they expect their wife to look like she does for the rest of her life; when women get married they expect to change the man into the person they want him to be’.

I call this the Sex in the City syndrome. After the TV show which is based on the permanent illusion that men will somehow become what women want them to be.

It is my contention that this concept is the backbone of single female thinking. It constitutes a major reason why single women would vote for a Democrat, particularly the Obama type Democratic who promises that human beings can be changed. Democrats generally believe human beings can be improved by government action and policy.

It is my contention that marriage is an effective antidote to this single woman’s backbone worldview.

Consequently, I see no change on the horizon unless single women lose faith in the Democrats to do what they promise.

Comments

I would like to make a contribution to our understanding of a political phenomenon: single women voting for Obama.

The following three paragraphs summarize the data on single women voting. To these paragraphs we need to add that single women voted 67% for Obama in 2012.

The unmarried women of the 2012 make up almost 40% of the African American population, nearly 30% of the Latino population, and about a third of all young voters, or 32.7%, according to the research released on Thursday. They are divorced, separated, widowed, or have never married.

"They had an enormous influence on Tuesday's election," Gardner said.

Single women have traditionally been Democratic voters, largely for economic reasons. They tend to have less money than married women – because they don't have a husband's earnings to fall back on. They also tend to be less educated.

I would like to add to the understanding of this single women voter phenomenon by repeating a popular male adage: ‘when men get married they expect their wife to look like she does for the rest of her life; when women get married they expect to change the man into the person they want him to be’.

I call this the Sex in the City syndrome. After the TV show which is based on the permanent illusion that men will somehow become what women want them to be.

It is my contention that this concept is the backbone of single female thinking. It constitutes a major reason why single women would vote for a Democrat, particularly the Obama type Democratic who promises that human beings can be changed. Democrats generally believe human beings can be improved by government action and policy.

It is my contention that marriage is an effective antidote to this single woman’s backbone worldview.

Consequently, I see no change on the horizon unless single women lose faith in the Democrats to do what they promise.